sort of trying shit and then are happy it worked
Most professions could be described like this, but when doctors are “trying shit” it is backed up by many years of training and education, and their behavior is scrutinised by professional bodies and so on.
When your local quack is “trying shit” it’s just based on the vibe.
Senal@programming.dev 4 days ago
Medical science is just that, medicine that follows the scientific method. (Or at least it’s supposed to).
The scientific method is basically testing guesses (sometimes educated ones) and seeing what happens.
There’s a whole lot of structure and guidelines, but testing guesses(hypotheses) is where it’s at mostly.
The current state of any science is usually “the best theory we have right now, given the data and resources available to us”
Some people hear that and think “look, they’re just guessing, why should I listen to them?” and thats absolutely valid.
Where that falls down is that they then go on to assume all guesses are equal and ignore the time and resources that went in to that current scientific best guess.
Is it always correct? no, is it more likely to be beneficial than a random social media post by an influencer with no medical expertise? Generally yes.
Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 days ago
The people who “guess” are guessing way down the decision tree, not like hmm is this cancer or a flu?
They also are highly trained, in a field that is centuries old.
Senal@programming.dev 4 days ago
Indeed, though I’d argue that’s an issue with modern academia as an industry rather than the scientific method itself.
Jarix@lemmy.world 3 days ago
I would expand “testing guesses” to repeatedly testing guesses. It’s a fundamental thing to be able to recreate the testing results, or it’s not science at all it’s just fuckign around lol
Senal@programming.dev 3 days ago
An important distinction.